In-person course
in Chudleigh Maker & location details

Kitchen Confidence

Introductory cookery course

Beginners Cookery

Description

Can’t cook? Oh yes, you can! Whether you are newly single, leaving home, or just lack confidence in the kitchen, join us for a truly transformative day. You’ll gain skills, confidence, and a repertoire of essential recipes that will become your new “go-to” favourites. Cooking isn’t magic—it’s about mastering key techniques, understanding flavours, and building confidence. That’s exactly what we’re here to teach you. Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to strengthen your foundations, our professional yet fun and approachable teaching style will leave you feeling proud of your creations, and ready to tackle new culinary challenges at home. Here’s What You’ll Learn: Master the Basics: Understand how to approach recipes the right way—breaking them down into simple, stress-free steps. Build Strong Foundations: Learn versatile recipes that can be adapted to create a variety of dishes. Make Essential Sauces: - White sauce: The base for cheese sauce, soups, macaroni cheese, lasagne, and more. - Tomato sauce: Perfect for pizza toppings, pasta, stews, and soups. - Meat and vegetable stock: For gravy, casseroles, stews, and soups. - Soup base: Combining stocks and sauces for endless flavour possibilities. Cook These Delicious Dishes: - Beef and vegetable casserole. - Chicken and leek soup. - Bolognese sauce. - Fennel and chorizo tomato pasta sauce. Why Choose Us? Our hands-on, guided approach ensures you will leave with practical skills and answers to all your questions—no question is ever too simple! Along the way, we’ll share chef’s secrets, tips, and tricks to make life in the kitchen smoother and more enjoyable. You’ll also receive a list of recommended cookbooks, social media pages, and websites to continue your culinary journey after the course. This is a day of cooking, learning, and connection. We’ll all make the same dishes together to ensure everyone gets plenty of support and learns alongside each other. Leave us with pride in your creations, new-found confidence in the kitchen, and a whole host of skills to wow your friends and family. Let’s turn “Can’t Cook” into “Can Cook!” Schedule of the day: 9:30 Arrival and introductions. 9:45 Discuss recipes, how to prepare to cook and get organised. 10:00 Demonstrate how to make meat and vegetable stocks, including top tips for best results and how to store. 10:20 Demonstrate how to make a white sauce, gravy and soup from the stocks made earlier. Demonstrate and discuss other ways to thicken sauces and stocks to achieve similar results. 10:40 Guests make a white sauce and a chicken gravy with support and guidance. 11:15 Demonstrate how to make a tomato sauce. 11:45 Guests make tomato sauce with support and guidance. 12:15 Refreshment break. 12:30 Demonstrate bolognaise sauce and cooking of pasta. discuss turning a Bolognaise into a lasagne. 12:50 Lunch. 13:30 Guests make bolognaise sauce with support and guidance. 14:15 Demonstrate the perfect beef and vegetable casserole. 14:30 Guests make beef and vegetable casserole, with support and guidance. 15:15 Demonstrate Fennel and Chorizo pasta sauce. 15:30 Guests make Fennel and Chorizo pasta sauce. 15:50 Recap, questions and answers, guests take home their wares 16:00 Depart. Go home, confident and proud, with the skills and experience to make dozens of different variants of these recipes from scratch using the principles and building blocks you have learned on the day. Please let us know about any dietary requirements when you book this course. We will aim to accommodate. Is it suitable for children? We welcome full-paying, accompanied children, provided they can follow instructions independently or with your support. This makes our courses an ideal opportunity for enthusiastic future chefs to explore their passion—especially if parents feel they lack the skills or confidence to teach them at home. It’s a chance to learn together and inspire a lifelong love of cooking. Every child is different, and we’re happy to discuss individual suitability to ensure the best experience, just reach out via the 'message the tutor' button to discuss. As a general guide, this course is most suitable for children over 11 years. However, we’re flexible and open to younger participants if they can confidently follow instructions with your support. All children must be accompanied by a full-paying adult.